Happilo, a Bengaluru-based snacking brand, has raised Rs 100 crore from A91 Partners in its first external funding round.
“The capital raised will be used for capital expenditure, for automation and to expand marketing and distribution capabilities,” said Vikas Nahar, founder director at Happlio. “We are well capitalised for another 12-18 months, post which we might again hit the market for capital raising.”
Founded in 2016 by Vikas Nahar, Happilo faces stiff competition with Nutty Gritties, Cornitos and Rostaa in the nuts and dry fruits segment.
The bootstrapped company that sells directly to consumers has a revenue run rate of Rs 180 crore, and is profitable. This is the first institutional capital raised by the company. Typically, online contributes to around 60% of the business and rest is from modern and general trade, Nahar said. “The company has grown almost three times in the Covid-19 period,” he added.
“Happilo’s progress without any external capital is very impressive. Now they have a unique opportunity to leverage their Omni-channel capabilities to lead a large and important category in India towards getting organised,” said Abhay Pandey of A91 Partners.
A91 Partners was founded by former MDs of Sequoia Capital, Abhay Pandey, VT Bharadwaj and Gautam Mago.
